Christmas
by evil alien chickens
Summary: Axel and Roxas share Christmas. Akuroku pairing Pathetic summary, read anyway, please?


Well, hello mortals, just to let you all know, this is the first time I've written for these characters, so the story might really suck. If so, be kind and tell me how I can improve, "You suck" doesn't help in the slightest, and is really quite mean. If you feel the need to flame me, I'll probably weep over for a brief second, then laugh hysterically and go around showing people, so it's kind of useless. Oh well, I hope you enjoy.

Roxas wandered absently through the cold, damp streets, clutching his black coat close around his thin body. The lights from the various shops along the streets reflected off the snow and mixed warmly with the multicolored Christmas lights strung up over their doorways. Passersby bundled up similar to Roxas in long coats and scarves bustled in and out of the shops in search of last minute Christmas gifts.

Roxas gave them a look somewhere between a smirk and a grimace, glad that he had gotten his shopping done early, and pitying those who hadn't. He caught a glimpse of his friend and classmate, Demyx, through the throng of people, excitedly talking to a man with long hair and an eye patch who Roxas didn't know. He passed the blond man a quick wave with a gloved hand before hurrying on his way.

Tonight was Christmas Eve, and he was heading over to Axel's to have dinner and watch A Wonderful Life, their all-time favorite Christmas movie. They had been best friends since the first year of high school and had remained close through graduation, and now college. Roxas was studying to be a journalist, while Axel was working on computer graphics and other things so he could work with special effects in the movies. He had also done some training to be a stuntman, because "they always get to be right in the middle of the really big explosions!"

Axel being a kind of pyromaniac, he enjoyed scenes with lots of flames and Roxas could remember a number of times when he'd had to put out fires that the redhead had "accidentally" started in his apartment. On one of these occasions, Axel had set a very ugly set of curtains that his mother had given him on fire. He might have burned the whole place down if Roxas hadn't been there to extinguish the flames.

He could still remember Axel's words when Roxas, panting and holding the still smoking curtains, had asked why he didn't simply return them.

"What? Come now Roxy, how could I possibly return something my mother gave me? I'd feel terrible! Besides, this way was so much more fun!"

Roxas chuckled; he had since given up trying to reason with Axel, since he could never keep up with the insane pyro's logic.

He started to climb the slippery concrete steps up to Axel's apartment, having reached the building during his musings. He and Axel had somehow managed to find colleges near to each other, and, since they both lived off campus, their abodes were pretty close. Roxas' smile remained as his memories of the insane, beautiful pyromaniac continued, images of the redhead's other exploits flashing through his mind. He knew neither of them could ever look at bagels the same way again.

His next thought made him pause, the smile cracking slightly and acquiring a bitter edge. After a moment, he resumed walking, pushing it to the back of his mind, like always.

Finally, Roxas reached the bright yellow and red striped door that marked the entrance to Axel's apartment.

The door had once been dark green, but Axel had painted it the week he moved in, saying the color bored him. The landlord wasn't too pleased at first, but Axel had promised to paint it whatever color he wanted when he moved out, so the old man tolerated it.

The spiky-haired blond slipped out the key Axel had given him and unlocked the door, preparing himself for the creature that lay beyond it. Sure enough, as soon as the door swung open, a mix of black shirt and red hair blinded him as Axel pounced on him and gave him a bone-snapping hug, saying happily, "Hey Roxy! Merry Christmas!"

"Hello Axel," Roxas replied, wiggling his trapped arms in an attempt to return the embrace. Attempt failed.

Axel let go and moved back his smile lighting up his already bright green eyes.

"Pizza's due any minute, so go make yourself comfortable and I'll get us some hot chocolate. Unless you'd prefer eggnog, Roxy?"

Roxas made a face and the redhead smirked; both of them absolutely abhorred eggnog, especially after being forced to drink a carton each of it after losing a bet to Demyx last year.

Axel practically skipped back to the kitchen. Roxas watched for a moment, smiling at the on cloud nine redhead, Christmas was Axel's favorite holiday. As he settled into the fat, squashy mass of sofa cushions, Roxas called over his shoulder, "Pizza? I thought you were gonna cook tonight, flamer."

Axel's voice floated out from the kitchen, "Uh, yeah, well, something…came up and, err, well…pizza's a lot easier, you know?"

He came out and strode over to the couch, holding two mugs, one of which he gave to Roxas before sitting down next to him.

"You burned it, didn't you?"

There was a brief silence in which Axel looked nervous while Roxas smirked at him.

"Damned pyromaniac"

"Hey! It's not my fault the directions were unclear!"

"Uh huh. So, what did the evil instructions trick you into doing this time?" Roxas eyed Axel lazily from his lounging position against the arm of the sofa.

"They told me to turn the oven to 940 instead of 490," the redhead answered seriously, balancing his mug on his knee, which he had drawn up to his chest when he sat down.

Roxas laughed, and was just about to reply when the doorbell rang. Axel sprang off the couch, calling,

"Food!"

He scrambled over to the door, snagging his wallet off the island that separated the kitchen from the living room. Roxas sat up as the door opened and watched Axel cheerfully greet an equally enthusiastic pizza boy with big blue eyes and messy brown hair. Beside him was another blue-eyed boy, though this one had silver hair, and was looking gloomy and bored. He watched his companion and Axel carefully, and gave Roxas the impression of a bodyguard, ready to pull his charge away at the first sign of danger.

Axel paid and waved to the boys, and Roxas heard the boy cheerfully telling his taller friend (he thought he heard the name Riku?) about what they should do tomorrow. Riku smiled slightly and gently kissed the shorter boy, halting his excited chatter. Axel paused in closing the door and seemed to watch them for an instant before following through with the action.

As he turned back, Roxas thought he saw a das expression cross the redhead's face. Then Axel was bounding towards him, celebrating the arrival of the pizza and ordering the blond to hurry and start the movie.

They got through the beginning without much incident, though Roxas had to stop Axel from throwing the little plastic table from the pizza box at the T.V. when Mr. Potter came on. He really didn't like that guy.

After that, they settled comfortably into the story, though Roxas noticed that Axel didn't really seem focused on the movie. Also, he wasn't eating much: normally he had a huge appetite.

About halfway through, Axel quietly told Roxas, "Pause it for a minute, would you? I'll be right back."

Roxas grabbed the remote and clicked the "pause" button, looking up at his friend in a concerned manner, "You okay?"

"Yeah, yeah," Axel absently waved a hand as he strode over to his bedroom, "I'm fine. Don't worry about me." The door clicked shut.

Roxas waited, gradually becoming more and more worried as Axel failed to return. After about ten minutes, Roxas got up and went to the bedroom door. He hesitated for a moment, then turned the handle and peeked into the dark room, calling Axel's name softly. He jumped slightly as a figure he recognized as Axel turned quickly around to face him, a hand raised to rub across his eyes.

"Oh, h-hey Roxy, didn't mean to take so long, I…"

Roxas had walked over to where Axel sat on his bed, reaching out to touch his cheek.

"Axel, are you crying?"

His question was answered as his fingertips came in contact with the tears his companion had failed to wipe away. The contact broke as Axel jerked back, clumsily trying to dry his eyes and mumbling incoherently as he tried to think up an explanation. Roxas didn't barely heard as he sat next to the redhead, firmly placing a hand on his shoulder to call his attention back.

Axel stopped talking and glanced at Roxas, before turning his gaze to stare at the floor. A few more tears slipped out of the corners of his eyes. Roxas let them fall, watching him carefully for a couple of minutes before asking, "Why are you crying?" His voice was quiet and gentle, but it still made Axel jump a little. He looked up at the blond, his expression resigned and miserable.

He sighed, and answered with an air of brushing the incident off, "No reason really. I've just…been feeling down lately."

He was starting to stand, but Roxas held him back, "Crying goes a bit further than **just** feeling down, don't you think?"

Axel paused, not moving, eyes fixed on one of his feet, "Maybe."

"Why?" Roxas insisted, holding tighter to Axel's shoulder.

There was a long silence, then Axel said, "I…I'm in love with …someone."

Roxas frowned, confusion, hope and dread dancing painfully through his chest, "You're crying because you're in love?"

"No. I just…I'm scared to tell him that I love him." As he said this, Axel's eyes darted up to Roxas and back down again. "I guess everything just…caught up to me tonight."

Roxas had to take a moment to fortify himself for his next question: "Who? Who do you…love?"

Axel stiffened, and, for the first time since they had started talking, met and held Roxas' gaze. "I can't tell you."

The blend's eyes widened in surprise, "Yes you can! You know you can!"

"No, Roxy, I can't," Axel's eyes had softened, but he still didn't look away.

Roxas stared back frustrated, " But you want to, I can tell."

Axel blinked, looking more vulnerable now than he had when he was crying. They sat there for a while, neither really knowing what to say. Finally, Axel spoke up, "Hey, Roxas?"

"Hmm?" Roxas shifted so that he was facing his friend more fully.

"Is-is there someone you love?" Roxas didn't answer for a second, studying Axel's face. He replied firmly, "Yes, there is."

Axel's face became blank which, Roxas had learned, he did when he wanted to hide his feelings. His voice was very steady when he spoke next, "Oh…are you going to tell them?"

Roxas sighed, still watching the other intently, "I don't know."

"Who is it?" When only silence answered the question, Axel sighed, "You aren't going to tell me?"

Roxas took a deep breath, "No, I-I will, just…I need a second."

"Okay"

Roxas noticed that Axel's fists were tightly clenched, fingers curled into the blanket they were sitting on, and inspiration for another question struck him.

"Axel, if I tell you who I love, will you tell me who you love?"

Axel stayed quiet for a long time, but finally replied, "I can't promise anything, but…I'll try, Roxas."

Roxas nodded, and inhaled deeply once more, fiercely fighting down a wave of nervousness, "Axel, I love you."

He watched Axel's eyes widen and a look of pure shock cover his face. "S-say that again," the redhead gasped out, leaning forward, but otherwise not moving.

"I love you," Roxas repeated, looking straight into his brilliant emerald eyes.

Axel's expression didn't change, though a single tear traced down his cheek, drifting across one of the twin tattoos under his eyes. Startled, Roxas reached towards him, intending to brush the tear away, but before he could touch him, Axel launched himself forward, slamming into Roxas and knocking them both onto the (thankfully) carpeted floor.

Roxas, stunned, looked deviously at Axel, who was more or less lying on top of him.

"A-Axel, what are you doing?"

Axel pushed himself up a bit, so that he was leaning over Roxas with his elbows on either side of the blonde's head. He was grinning madly, and, though he usually enjoyed seeing Axel smile, Roxas found that the expression now made him rather nervous.

"Axel?"

"Roxy, you have no idea how long I've wished for you to say that! I love you! I love you so much."

Axel leaned back down to hug Roxas again, panting. Roxas, for his part, lay there in shock for about a minute longer, and then gently pushed Axel up just enough so that he could roll the redhead onto his back. Now easily straddling Axel's stomach, Roxas beamed down at the pyro, who beamed back just as insanely happy.

The blonde bent down and kissed Axel, sliding his hands up to gently stroke past his jaw and bury into his firey red hair. Axel moaned softly and tangled his fingers in Roxas' spikey hair, pulling him closer.

Eventually, Roxas pulled back, letting them both breath, "You have no idea how long **I've** wanted to do **that**, flamer."

And so, it is done. I await your yummy feedback. Just so's you know, "flamer" was invented by someone else, I liked it and was too lazy to think up my own nickname, so don't go giving me the credit for the name. If that author reads this and would like me to change it, I will.


End file.
